Mammaglobin A. Elsevier; 2014. pp. 241-68. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-800263-6.00006-9]

The role and function of CLU in cancer biology and therapy

Clusterin (CLU) is a highly evolutionary conserved glycoprotein with multiple isoform-specific functions and is widely distributed in different species. Accumulated evidence has shown the prominent role of CLU in regulating several essential physiological processes, including programmed cell death, metastasis, invasion, proliferation and cell growth via regulating diverse signaling pathways to mediate cancer progression in various cancers, such as prostate, breast, lung, liver, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancer. Several studies have revealed the potential benefit of inhibiting CLU in CLU inhibition-based targeted cancer therapies in vitro, in vivo or in human, suggesting CLU is a promising therapeutic target. This review discusses the multiple functions and mechanisms of CLU in regulating tumor progression of various cancers and summarizes the inhibitors of CLU used in CLU inhibition-based targeted cancer therapies.

The Enigma of Mammaglobin: Redefining the Biomarker Paradigm in Breast Carcinoma

The continuous evolution of cancer biology has led to the discovery of mammaglobin, a potential novel biomarker for breast carcinoma. This review aims to unravel the enigmatic aspects of mammaglobin and elucidate its potential role in redefining the paradigm of breast carcinoma biomarkers. We will thoroughly examine its expression in tumoral and peritumoral tissues and its circulating levels in the blood, thereby providing insights into its possible function in cancer progression and metastasis. Furthermore, the potential application of mammaglobin as a non-invasive diagnostic tool and a target for personalized treatment strategies will be discussed. Given the increasing incidence of breast carcinoma worldwide, the exploration of novel biomarkers such as mammaglobin is crucial in advancing our diagnostic capabilities and treatment modalities, ultimately contributing to improved patient outcomes.

Intercepting Premalignant, Preinvasive Breast Lesions Through Vaccination

Breast cancer (BC) prevention remains the ultimate cost-effective method to reduce the global burden of invasive breast cancer (IBC). To date, surgery and chemoprevention remain the main risk-reducing modalities for those with hereditary cancer syndromes, as well as high-risk non-hereditary breast lesions such as ADH, ALH, or LCIS. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a preinvasive malignant lesion of the breast that closely mirrors IBC and, if left untreated, develops into IBC in up to 50% of lesions. Certain high-risk patients with DCIS may have a 25% risk of developing recurrent DCIS or IBC, even after surgical resection. The development of breast cancer elicits a strong immune response, which brings to prominence the numerous advantages associated with immune-based cancer prevention over drug-based chemoprevention, supported by the success of dendritic cell vaccines targeting HER2-expressing BC. Vaccination against BC to prevent or interrupt the process of BC development remains elusive but is a viable option. Vaccination to intercept preinvasive or premalignant breast conditions may be possible by interrupting the expression pattern of various oncodrivers. Growth factors may also function as potential immune targets to prevent breast cancer progression. Furthermore, neoantigens also serve as effective targets for interception by virtue of strong immunogenicity. It is noteworthy that the immune response also needs to be strong enough to result in target lesion elimination to avoid immunoediting as it may occur in IBC arising from DCIS. Overall, if the issue of vaccine targets can be solved by interrupting premalignant lesions, there is a potential to prevent the development of IBC.

Comparative whey proteome analysis of small-tailed Han and DairyMeade ovine milk

We characterized the proteome profile of mid-lactation small-tailed Han (STH) and DairyMeade (DM) ovine milk in order to explore physiological variation and differences in milk traits between the two breeds. Methodology combined a tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomic approach with LC-MS/MS technology. A total of 656 proteins were identified in STH and DM ovine milk, of which 17and 29 proteins were significantly upregulated (P < 0.05) in STH and DM, respectively. Immune-related proteins and disease-related proteins were highly expressed in STH milk, whereas S100A2 and AEBP1 were highly expressed in DM milk, which had beneficial effects on mammary gland development and milk yield. Our results provide a theoretical basis for future breeding of dairy sheep.

Can Breast Implants Induce Breast Cancer Immunosurveillance? An Analysis of Antibody Response to Breast Cancer Antigen following Implant Placement

BACKGROUND

Women with cosmetic breast implants have significantly lower rates of subsequent breast cancer than the general population (relative risk, 0.63; 95 percent CI, 0.56 to 0.71). The authors hypothesize that breast implant-induced local inflammation stimulates immunosurveillance recognition of breast tumor antigen.

METHODS

Sera were collected from two cohorts of healthy women: women with long-term breast implants (i.e., breast implants for >6 months) and breast implant-naive women. Antibody responses to breast tumor antigens were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and compared between cohorts by unpaired t test. Of the implant-naive cohort, nine women underwent breast augmentation, and antibody responses before and after implant placement were compared by paired t test.

RESULTS

Sera were collected from 104 women: 36 (34.6 percent) long-term breast implants and 68 (65.4 percent) implant-naive women. Women with long-term breast implants had higher antibody responses than implant-naive women to mammaglobin-A (optical density at 450 nm, 0.33 versus 0.22; p = 0.003) and mucin-1 (optical density at 450 nm, 0.42 versus 0.34; p = 0.02). There was no difference in antibody responses to breast cancer susceptibility gene 2, carcinoembryonic antigen, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, or tetanus. Nine women with longitudinal samples preoperatively and 1 month postoperatively demonstrated significantly elevated antibody responses following implant placement to mammaglobin-A (mean difference, 0.13; p = 0.0002) and mucin-1 (mean difference 0.08; p = 0.02). There was no difference in postimplant responses to other breast tumor antigens, or tetanus.

CONCLUSIONS

Women with long-term breast implants have higher antibody recognition of mammaglobin-A and mucin-1. This study provides the first evidence of implant-related immune responses to breast cancer antigens.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic, V.

Pleiotropy-guided transcriptome imputation from normal and tumor tissues identifies candidate susceptibility genes for breast and ovarian cancer

Familial, sequencing, and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and genetic correlation analyses have progressively unraveled the shared or pleiotropic germline genetics of breast and ovarian cancer. In this study, we aimed to leverage this shared germline genetics to improve the power of transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) to identify candidate breast cancer and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes. We built gene expression prediction models using the PrediXcan method in 681 breast and 295 ovarian tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas and 211 breast and 99 ovarian normal tissue samples from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project and integrated these with GWAS meta-analysis data from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (122,977 cases/105,974 controls) and the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (22,406 cases/40,941 controls). The integration was achieved through application of a pleiotropy-guided conditional/conjunction false discovery rate (FDR) approach in the setting of a TWASs. This identified 14 candidate breast cancer susceptibility genes spanning 11 genomic regions and 8 candidate ovarian cancer susceptibility genes spanning 5 genomic regions at conjunction FDR < 0.05 that were >1 Mb away from known breast and/or ovarian cancer susceptibility loci. We also identified 38 candidate breast cancer susceptibility genes and 17 candidate ovarian cancer susceptibility genes at conjunction FDR < 0.05 at known breast and/or ovarian susceptibility loci. The 22 genes identified by our cross-cancer analysis represent promising candidates that further elucidate the role of the transcriptome in mediating germline breast and ovarian cancer risk.

Comparing blood versus tissue-based biomarkers expression in breast cancer patients

Molecular markers have been used as a tool for diagnostic approaches, staging, and evaluation of therapeutic responses in patients with cancer. Cancer molecular markers can also help clinicians to make decision on therapy and prognosis evaluation at the time of diagnosis. In the early diagnosis of breast cancer (BC), estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) expression levels should be determined through immunohistochemistry (IHC). In molecular genetics, there are some important tissue-based markers that can also be found in blood, such as Mammaglobin (MAM), Cytokeratin 19 (CK19), Mucin (MUC), Proto-oncogene (c-Myc), antigen Ki-67 (Ki67), and Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). In this study, the positive level of the marker genes in both blood and tissue of the BC patients were compared using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. In addition, the importance of blood vs. tissue-based markers in BC diagnosis also demonstrated and is discussed. CEA (O), ERβ, CK19 and, c-Myc molecular markers were significantly different between blood of normal and patients while there was no significant difference of these markers in tissue samples. Blood-based biomarkers can be used for the early diagnosis of BC. Comparing blood versus tissue-based biomarkers indicated that there are correlations between markers in blood and tissue, since blood markers can be substitute to tissue markers in BC patients in the future.

Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy Analysis of Saliva for Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Saliva biomarkers using reagent-free biophotonic technology have not been investigated as a strategy for early detection of breast cancer (BC). The attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been proposed as a promising tool for disease diagnosis. However, its utilization in cancer is still incipient, and currently saliva has not been used for BC screening. We have applied ATR-FTIR onto saliva from patients with breast cancer, benign breast disease, and healthy matched controls to investigate its potential use in BC diagnosis. Several salivary vibrational modes have been identified in original and second-derivative spectra. The absorbance levels at wavenumber 1041 cm⁻¹ were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in saliva of breast cancer patients compared with those of benign patients, and the ROC curve analysis of this peak showed a reasonable accuracy to discriminate breast cancer from benign and control patients. The 1433–1302.9 cm⁻¹ band area was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in saliva of breast cancer patients than in control and benign patients. This salivary ATR-FTIR spectral area was prevalidated as a potential diagnostic biomarker of BC. This spectral biomarker was able to discriminate human BC from controls with sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 80%, respectively. Besides, it was able to differentiate BC from benign disease with sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 70%, respectively. Briefly, for the first time, saliva analysis by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy has demonstrated the potential use of salivary spectral biomarkers (1041 cm⁻¹ and 1433–1302.9 cm⁻¹) as a novel alternative for noninvasive BC diagnosis, which could be used for screening purposes.

Deep Dive on the Proteome of Human Cerebrospinal Fluid: A Valuable Data Resource for Biomarker Discovery and Missing Protein Identification

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a body fluid of choice for biomarker studies of brain disorders but remains relatively under-studied compared with other biological fluids such as plasma, partly due to the more invasive means of its sample collection. The present study establishes an in-depth CSF proteome through the analysis of a unique CSF sample from a pool of donors. After immunoaffinity depletion, the CSF sample was fractionated using off-gel electrophoresis and analyzed with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (MS) using the latest generation of hybrid Orbitrap mass spectrometers. The shotgun proteomic analysis allowed the identification of 20 689 peptides mapping on 3379 proteins. To the best of our knowledge, the obtained data set constitutes the largest CSF proteome published so far. Among the CSF proteins identified, 34% correspond to genes whose transcripts are highly expressed in brain according to the Human Protein Atlas. The principal Alzheimer's disease biomarkers (e.g., tau protein, amyloid-β, apolipoprotein E, and neurogranin) were detected. Importantly, our data set significantly contributes to the Chromosome-centric Human Proteome Project (C-HPP), and 12 proteins considered as missing are proposed for validation in accordance with the HPP guidelines. Of these 12 proteins, 8 proteins are based on 2 to 6 uniquely mapping peptides from this CSF analysis, and 4 match a new peptide with a "stranded" single peptide in PeptideAtlas from previous CSF studies. The MS proteomic data are available to the ProteomeXchange Consortium ( http://www.proteomexchange.org/ ) with the data set identifier PXD009646.

Anti-hMAM monoclonal antibodies evaluated in breast and non-breast tissues for differential diagnosis implication

PURPOSE

Human mammaglobin (hMAM) is a breast tissue-specific marker that may have potency for the diagnosis of breast cancer. However, there is a lack of commercialization of anti-hMAM antibody made in China.

METHODS

Immunoreactivities of 2 self-made monoclonal anti-hMAM antibodies, MEF521 and MDA822, were evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining and compared with imported monoclonal antibody ab81611. A total of 48 cases of primary breast cancers, 36 cases of benign or normal breast tissues, 52 cases of lymph nodes or organ metastases from breast cancer, and 90 cases of non-breast primary carcinoma tissues were analyzed.

RESULTS

All 3 anti-hMAM antibodies showed high positive expression of hMAM in primary breast cancers, benign, and normal breast tissues. The positive ratio for MEF521 (33.3%) or MDA822 (44.4%) was much higher than that of ab81611 (16.7%) in lymph node metastasis from breast cancer (p = 0.038). There was no correlation between hMAM expression and clinicopathologic features of breast cancer in the 3 groups of antibodies. In 90 cases of non-breast primary carcinoma tissues, no hMAM-positive ones were observed in the MEF521 or MDA822 group, but 48 (53.3%) in the ab81611 group were positive, indicating that breast tissue specificity of the 2 self-made anti-hMAM monoclonal antibodies much higher than that of ab81611 (p&lt;0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results showed that MDA822 and MEF521 are more specific to breast cancer as measured by means of immunohistochemistry. Therefore, the 2 self-made anti-hMAM antibodies may have good prospects for clinical application in the differential diagnosis of breast tumor and breast cancer metastases.

Generation of monoclonal antibodies against MGA and comparison of their application in breast cancer detection by immunohistochemistry

Mammaglobin A (MGA) is an organ specific molecular biomarker for metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. However, there are still needs to develop optimal monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to detect MGA expression in breast carcinoma by immunohistochemistry. In this study, we first generated mAbs against MGA. Then, we used epitope prediction and computer-assisted structural analysis to screen five dominant epitopes and identified mAbs against five epitopes. Further immunohistochemical analysis on 42 breast carcinoma specimens showed that MHG1152 and MGD785 had intensive staining mainly in membrane, while CHH11617, CHH995 and MJF656 had more intensive staining within the cytoplasm. MGA scoring results showed that MJF656 had the highest rate (92.8%) of positive staining among five mAbs, including higher staining intensity when compared with that of MHG1152 (p < 0.01) and CHH995 (p < 0.05) and the highest the mean percentage of cells stained among mAbs. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship of positive staining rate by mAbs with patient clinical characteristics. The results suggest that MJF656 was able to detect MGA expression, especially in early clinical stage, low grade and lymph node metastasis-negative breast carcinoma. In conclusion, our study generated five mAbs against MGA and identified the best candidate for detection of MGA expression in breast cancer tissues.